> If a file has an incorrect rate in the wav header, it does not seem
> possible to force ecasound to "do the right thing" instead it cheerfully
> takes the settings from the wav file and doesn't let your -f settings
> override them.

Yup, this is a feature. -f only changes the current default audio format.
There's no way to override the format. What you can do is to treat the
.wav file as raw data. In other words: